


Yet Another Prison Cell

by dragonwings948



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: Bickering, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dorks in Love, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Love, Platonic Cuddling, Prison, Sharing a Bed, oh boy where do i start
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-07-12
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:01:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25215163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonwings948/pseuds/dragonwings948
Summary: The Doctor and Charley find themselves stuck in yet another prison cell with only one bed and blanket to share in the frigid environment.
Relationships: Eighth Doctor & Charley Pollard, Eighth Doctor/Charley Pollard
Comments: 7
Kudos: 24





	Yet Another Prison Cell

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bravest_person_in_Wonderland](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bravest_person_in_Wonderland/gifts).



> Hope you like it! :)

Charley huffed a sigh as she watched the prison door slam closed. To her surprise, she could see her breath as a puff of white air. As if she needed the reminder of how freezing cold it was…

As soon as the prison guard’s back was turned the Doctor leapt to the door’s lock, poking and prying. He patted his jacket pocket, but a moment later his shoulders slumped.

Charley eyed him without sympathy. “I told you that you should have given me your sonic screwdriver before they searched you.”

He straightened up and turned to her. “Things were going rather well! I didn’t think they’d imprison us; at least not this quickly.”

“Really? _I’m_ not surprised. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been locked up in a prison cell with you.”

The Doctor focused a look on her that said not to say anything more about it. “At least this is one of the nicer ones we’ve been in.” He looked around appraisingly with a minute nod.

“Nicer?” Charley shivered, hugging herself as she glared at the grey stone walls.

“There’s a bed,” he offered, like that was all a prison cell needed to be “nice” in his book. He pointed to a small cot in the corner with a blanket folded on top.

“Oh great, so that only one of us can try and get some sleep in this biting cold.”

“So that _you_ can try and get some sleep.” His determined look simply dared her to try and argue with him.

While part of Charley thought his chivalry was sweet, she also felt disinclined to agree with anything he said at the moment; probably because she was just so _cold._ So she rolled her eyes and reached to grab the folded blue blanket. There were some questionable stains on it, but it did seem to have been recently washed. That was something, at least. But on the other hand…

“Doctor, it’s threadbare.”

“Here.”

Charley was so busy studying the blanket that she didn’t really notice what he was doing until he held out his coat to her.

“Wear this,” he offered. “It’s not much, but it’ll be a bit warmer.”

Charley simply stared at the offered jacket, caught off guard, then glanced at the Doctor looking a tiny bit pathetic (and handsome, she had to admit) in his white shirt and waistcoat.

He pushed it toward her. “Charley, please. You know I don’t feel the cold like you do.”

A shiver ran down her spine, shaking her entire body. A look of pity came into the Doctor’s eyes. With a sigh, Charley grabbed the jacket and shrugged it on. Her mood lightened in a moment when it absolutely dwarfed her; her fingers didn’t even make it out of the sleeves. And though there was only a faint trace of the Doctor’s scarce body heat left, it already made her feel much cosier.

“Thank you,” she said softly. She rolled up the coat’s sleeves to her wrists and buttoned it up the front.

The Doctor smiled as he watched her. “Now get some rest. You’ve been on your feet for hours.”

Charley couldn’t deny that she was exhausted. She flopped down on the bed, making it creak and wobble. For a moment she wondered if it would even support her weight, but it thankfully remained intact. The moment her head touched the musty-smelling pillow she felt like she could fall asleep in a matter of seconds. She grabbed the thin blanket and spread it over her. It didn’t do much, but combined with the Doctor’s jacket she felt like she might be warm enough to sleep peacefully.

“What are you going to do?” she asked, propping her head up.

The Doctor walked over to the bed and sat down just in front of it, his back to her. “Think of a way to get us out of here.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Charley pressed her body up against the wall as much as she could. “You’ve been on your feet too, and there’s plenty of room.” That was stretching it a bit, but the last thing she wanted was him sitting for hours on that cold, hard ground for no reason.

“I’m perfectly fine right here.”

“Doctor, I took your coat. If you don’t come up here I’m going to take it off and throw it at you.”

He glanced at her over his shoulder and frowned. “All right, all right.” He carefully climbed onto the cot, and though Charley could tell he tried his best to stay on the extreme opposite edge from her, in the small space their shoulders still touched. Charley knew that neither of them could even move their arms from their sides without jabbing the other person.

Seconds of (literally) uncomfortable silence ticked by. Suddenly, the Doctor’s voice spoke out of nowhere: “Now I know what sardines feel like.”

Charley laughed at the solemnity in his voice and the accuracy of his statement. The Doctor joined in with a chuckle, smiling over at her. A moment later a shudder passed through his frame, but he quickly looked away from her like it would hide what she had just seen.

Without another thought, Charley shifted the blanket off of herself and lay it over him. The Doctor’s eyes widened in surprise as the thin material came to rest over his body.

“If I have your coat, then you get the blanket.”

“No, that’s not how this works.” He tossed it back onto her. “You’re _human.”_

Charley only shoved it at him, barely holding in laughter. By the gleam in the Doctor’s eyes, she knew this was less about actually being concerned for each other and more about a battle of wills. “You say that like it’s a disease.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want to be impolite…” He pushed the blanket back.

“Doctor!” Realising that he was now deliberately trying to wind her up, she balled up the blanket and pitched it into his chest.

The Doctor couldn’t hide his grin now, but instead of continuing their game he unraveled the blanket and spread it over both of them. Like the bed, it wasn’t quite big enough for them to share, but Charley knew, as likely the Doctor did, that it was the only way to keep both of them happy.

Charley shifted so she lay on her side, allowing herself to be a bit more comfortable and giving the Doctor a little more room. The Doctor met her eyes.

“Are you warm enough?”

“Yes. Are you?”

“Of course I am.”

“Oh, of course, because time lords are invincible.”

“Not invincible, we just have a little better resilience, that’s all.” He reached for her hand and pressed it gently. “Now stop arguing, and go to sleep.”

“Don’t you dare say ‘Doctor’s orders,’” Charley muttered as she closed her eyes, already feeling weariness overwhelm her.

“Goodnight, Charley.” There was a smile in his voice.

“Goodnight…”

Just before she drifted off, Charley thought she felt someone tucking a blanket around her, but she was too far gone to identify what the feeling was. Yet somehow she slept for a long time in that cramped, frigid room, feeling completely safe and warm.

* * *

Several hours later, if the Doctor suddenly woke up and found Charley curled into him with one arm stretched across his chest, he didn’t say a word. And if he heard her mumble something about "love" in her sleep, well…he just conveniently forgot it ever happened.


End file.
